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Young people, all of us are increasingly more interested in becoming entrepreneurs. Recent research from Zen Business finds 75% of Gen Z want to launch their own businesses. So, how can they get started? Joining me now to discuss just that and much more. We've got Luke Bailey, who is the CEO of Neon Money Club here with us in studio. Thanks so much for taking the time.

Brad, thanks for having me.

Absolutely. Let's let's talk about this a little bit more. Some of the trends in entrepreneurship that we're seeing from younger generations. What are some of the pitfalls that we tend to see and how can people avoid that out the gate as well?

Uh, it depends on what kind of business you're you're starting. I think the number one thing is getting capital. Right? Um, and so if you're starting a business, you have a business plan and you can get like a loan from a bank, that's traditional, go for it. Uh, if you're if you're starting like a bigger business, like a tech company or a startup, you're going to go want to raise venture capital. And that's going to be like a bit harder. Uh, I think some of the pitfalls, I would say is just like, remember that uh, if it's venture capital, which like we've raised, just remember to tell your story, right? Um, because most investors like, I remember going in thinking, hey, it's just my company, uh, it's just my business plan, it's just my cool idea that I have. Um, and what they're looking for is if something goes wrong, uh, does this founder, does this this this person have the ability to switch and and pivot and do things. So they're really not just investing in companies for the majority of time, they're investing in people.

And we're going to talk about that because a lot of it is relationship building as well. If there are some top tips that entrepreneurs need to remember as well, whether it be sourcing capital, whether it be relationship building. How can they make sure that they are scaling their idea and their business in the correct way?

Well, I would say, um, like that's a hard one. But I would say like, as far as relationships, like everyone thinks it's business, but really relationships are the only business. Um, and so you just want to be really genuine about, I I always hate the term networking. Uh, when I say, hey, I'm going networking, I get it. Uh, it's intentional, but it it it seems a bit too intentional. Like, I'm going to meet you so that I can get an advantage to do something or I can get this job or I get this opportunity. Uh, you you really want to meet people and you want to keep it organic. Um, but but definitely state your intentions, right? Like where you want to go and what you want to do with them.

I want to talk about your entrepreneurial journey and and how your career has taken shape to the form to get to this point as the CEO of Neon Money Club. You know, your entrepreneurial journey, how you started Neon Money Club? What was the idea and how did you go about yourself getting partnerships along the way too?

Yeah, I mean, I I've been working in banking for about 20 years. So I worked for four of the biggest. I worked for Wells Fargo. I worked for Morgan Stanley. I worked for JP Morgan, not once, but twice. Uh, and I worked for Citigroup. Uh, and so I have been waiting for someone to do financial wellness in a way that I wanted to see it. Uh, which was a more personal touch, you know, not the whole like, don't buy the cup of coffee approach. Like, I buy a cup of coffee every morning. It wasn't working for me. Um, and I think I just got frustrated, right? I wanted to see it done a certain way and I started getting frustrated and I realized it had to be me to go and do it. Um, and so I had this nice cushy job, um, and I had to leave that job and I had to go and raise money uh, to do this basically. And so I think what so what Neon Money Club is is, um, it's one is the exclusive home of the cream American Express card, right? Uh, we're what you call a lifestyle financial brand. Uh, and our whole thing is just I wanted to step out and show people like why I dress the way I dress, why I do things the way like we do it is I want to people understand you didn't have to be one way or look one way in order to achieve this dream of financial wellness, right? You can do it as yourself.

I mean, we got the black card, we got the traditional American Express green card, now the cream card here. All right, so walk us through the partnership and why, why American Express? You know, how did this come to life here for the MX network?

Yeah, so for us, um, and my very first deck, we told people, hey, we're gonna we're gonna, you know, we're gonna build an investment platform, we're gonna build content, and then we're gonna back all of it into an American Express card. And like most investors walked out of room, laughed us out of the room. They're like, there's no way you're getting MX as a partner. Um, I think the reason it worked is we, again, brought ourselves in a room and we told our story. And so we we never had another network in our deck because we're building a lifestyle financial brand. We want people to see their financial health in the same way that they look at a good outfit before they leave the house. The closest thing you get to a lifestyle financial brand is American Express. And so we walked in the room and we told them what our mission is, and we told them how we see their brand. Uh, and they responded in kind. Um, and yeah, we we walked out with the deal, well for the cream card. And we put a prototype on the table of what we wanted. Um, we we actually we wanted to do a black card, but there was no way that was going to happen. Um, and so we've always had the cream card in our back pocket and cream stands for more than a color. Uh, it stands for hard work, right? Um, and it's it's elevated, right? Um, it it really stands out. And so that's what we want to do. We want to give people a lifestyle accessory and less of a credit card.

From the La crème. Um, you know, just lastly while we have you here too, and this just came to mind, as we're thinking about using credit wisely, especially as consumers are trying to figure out where they need to tap cash or where they need to just get through a period by tapping credit. I mean, credit and some of the debt that's held on credit cards according to the New York Fed right now is at all-time highs. So with that in mind, what are the smart ways that you are telling some of your clients here to remember how to use credit wisely in this period?

So we were talking about intention earlier, right? We build our products with with that intention built in. So the cream card is a charge card. So our members, uh, they pay off their cards in full each month, right? Because we don't want them to carry debt. We don't want them to be charged interest. Um, and so if you have this card, it says three things. One, you like nice things. It's a beautiful card. Two, uh, you don't carry a balance and three, you invest in yourself, right? It's the first MX card that allows you to invest your points directly into the stock market, right? And so, I would say for folks who don't have a cream card, um, I would just say use your card, your credit card, like you use your debit card, which is don't spend more than you have or that you can afford. Earn your rewards. Pay your card off and full. Take those rewards. It's yours, right? Um, but just don't get into deep to where it's beyond uh, uh, what what you can afford.

Great advice there. Luke Bailey, who's the Neon Money Club CEO. Thanks so much for joining us today.

Hey, thank you, Brad. Appreciate it.